Muscle · Neck

Salpingopharyngeus

Musculus salpingopharyngeus

A slender strip of muscle descending from the lower edge of the cartilage of the auditory tube — the passage connecting the middle ear to the throat — into the side wall of the pharynx, where it merges with the palatopharyngeus. It raises a small ridge of mucosa behind the opening of the tube, which is the landmark used to find that opening. Contracting it lifts the upper and side wall of the pharynx during swallowing. Whether its pull also helps open the auditory tube is not settled — the fibres are placed to do so, but the tube is opened mainly by the tensor veli palatini, and this muscle's contribution is described as uncertain.